SimplyPut
Six-man pro
By Michael Keene Special to the Standard Times
ROBERT LEE — After a shutout win over Sterling City in the bi-district round,Garden City head coach Matt Odom entered this week’s regional final matchup prepared for a true dogfight against No. 1 Ira — which is exactly what the team received.
The No. 3 Bearkats played a nearly flawless game, but room for error shrinks by the week in the playoffs, and a key turnover coupled with missed extra points sealed the door shut on any hopes of an upset, and the Bulldogs escaped 40-38.
“I knew going in that it’d be a good game,” Odom said. “Unfortunately things just didn’t turn out the way we hoped they would. It’s a tough loss for a lot of reasons.”
The Bearkats struggled early trying to contain Ira running back Logan Morris, who ran for 272 yards and four touchdowns in the first half for the Bulldogs.
Morris scored his first touchdown from six yards out, but Garden City running back Ismael Ramirez answered on the ensuing Bearkats possession. Ramirez broke free for a 46-yard touchdown run just thirteen seconds after the Morris touchdown, but a missed Austin Odom PAT resulted in the 8-6 Bulldogs lead, with more PAT woes to come for the Bearkats.
Ira continued to draw up plays to give their junior running back opportunities with the ball, and while Morris continued to find the end zone, Garden City continued to find a way to respond.
Garden City senior running back Juan Bustos responded to Morris’ second touchdown run of the game in the second quarter by hitting a hole and finding the end zone from 45 yards out on the ensuing possession.
“Coach Odom’s done a great job and Juan Bustos is one of the best athletes in the area,” Ira head coach Toby Goodwin said. “Hats off to that young man, and (quarterback Austin Odom) was a big part of it as well. They’re a good team. We battled and battled and I’m fortunate to be with the kids I’ve got. Logan Morris, can’t say enough about that kid.”
While the Bearkats continued the trend of responding to Ira’s potent ground game, a more troubling trend remained for Garden City as well. By halftime both teams had scored four touchdowns, but Garden City failed to convert on one PAT, while Ira kicker Austin Cullifer converted all four, tallying up to the 32-24 Bulldogs lead.
Both teams made adjustments at halftime resulting in a scoreless third quarter, but the Bearkats broke the silence in the fourth quarter as Ramirez scored his second touchdown of the night, and had the Bustos PAT blocked resulting in a 32-30 Ira lead.
Just when the Bearkats had seemingly figured out how to slow Morris down and forced Ira’s first punt of the night with just six minutes remaining in the game, Ramirez fumbled on the potential go-ahead possession at the Garden City 18. Ira running back Jared Cotton scored just three plays later with under five minutes remaining shutting the door on the hopeful Bearkats.
Garden City finished the season at 10-2, with its only losses coming to Ira in the 2013 season. The Bearkats were booted out of the first round of the playoffs one year ago and finished 3-8 on the year.
“It was a big turnaround for us from last year,” Odom said. “A lot of the credit goes to those seniors. They’re the ones that put in the time and effort and got us to where we were. There’s goo many of them to name but they’re the ones. The coaching staff did a great job for us too and it all came together and we turned it around.”
While Goodwin will spend the upcoming week preparing for the winner of today’s Water Valley and Crowell game, Odom hopes to begin building for next season after the loss of nine seniors this year.
“They’re going to be hard to replace,” Odom said. “In a lot of ways they’re irreplaceable. But it is what it is. We’ll have three returning starters coming back next season and they’re going to have to pick up the load and take the leadership and keep this thing rolling for the next couple of years because I think we’ve started something this year and it’s going to hopefully keep going for a while.”
Ira 40
Garden City 38
Ira 8 24 0 8 — 40
Garden City 6 18 0 14 — 38
FIRST QUARTER
IRA — Logan Morris 6 run (Austin Cullifer kick), 7:28 remaining.
GARDEN CITY — Ismael Ramirez 46 run (kick failed), 7:15.
SECOND QUARTER
IRA — Morris 2 run (Cullifer kick), 8:57.
GARDEN CITY — Juan Bustos 45 run (kick failed), 8:41.
IRA — Morris 4 run (Cullifer kick), 5:34.
GARDEN CITY — Stetson Hilger 9 pass from Austin Odom (kick failed), 3:36.
IRA — Morris 22 run (Cullifer kick), 2:21.
GARDEN CITY — Shawn Walker 5 run (kick failed), 0:55.
FOURTH QUARTER
GARDEN CITY — Ramirez 9 run (kick failed), 9:55.
IRA — Jared Cotton 9 run (Cullifer kick), 4:51.
GARDEN CITY — Walker 12 run (Bustos kick), 0:41.
Ira G.C.
First downs 14 11
Rushes-Yards 49-391 29-270
Passing 5 103
Comp-Att-Int 1-3-0 6-13-0
Punts 1-40.0 1-61.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 5-55 9-60
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Ira — Morris 36-338. Garden City — Ramirez 14-120.
PASSING: Ira — Tyler Goodwin 1-2-5. Garden City — Odom 5-10-75.
RECEIVING: Ira — Morris 1-5. Garden City — Hilger 2-18.
ROBERT LEE — After a shutout win over Sterling City in the bi-district round,Garden City head coach Matt Odom entered this week’s regional final matchup prepared for a true dogfight against No. 1 Ira — which is exactly what the team received.
The No. 3 Bearkats played a nearly flawless game, but room for error shrinks by the week in the playoffs, and a key turnover coupled with missed extra points sealed the door shut on any hopes of an upset, and the Bulldogs escaped 40-38.
“I knew going in that it’d be a good game,” Odom said. “Unfortunately things just didn’t turn out the way we hoped they would. It’s a tough loss for a lot of reasons.”
The Bearkats struggled early trying to contain Ira running back Logan Morris, who ran for 272 yards and four touchdowns in the first half for the Bulldogs.
Morris scored his first touchdown from six yards out, but Garden City running back Ismael Ramirez answered on the ensuing Bearkats possession. Ramirez broke free for a 46-yard touchdown run just thirteen seconds after the Morris touchdown, but a missed Austin Odom PAT resulted in the 8-6 Bulldogs lead, with more PAT woes to come for the Bearkats.
Ira continued to draw up plays to give their junior running back opportunities with the ball, and while Morris continued to find the end zone, Garden City continued to find a way to respond.
Garden City senior running back Juan Bustos responded to Morris’ second touchdown run of the game in the second quarter by hitting a hole and finding the end zone from 45 yards out on the ensuing possession.
“Coach Odom’s done a great job and Juan Bustos is one of the best athletes in the area,” Ira head coach Toby Goodwin said. “Hats off to that young man, and (quarterback Austin Odom) was a big part of it as well. They’re a good team. We battled and battled and I’m fortunate to be with the kids I’ve got. Logan Morris, can’t say enough about that kid.”
While the Bearkats continued the trend of responding to Ira’s potent ground game, a more troubling trend remained for Garden City as well. By halftime both teams had scored four touchdowns, but Garden City failed to convert on one PAT, while Ira kicker Austin Cullifer converted all four, tallying up to the 32-24 Bulldogs lead.
Both teams made adjustments at halftime resulting in a scoreless third quarter, but the Bearkats broke the silence in the fourth quarter as Ramirez scored his second touchdown of the night, and had the Bustos PAT blocked resulting in a 32-30 Ira lead.
Just when the Bearkats had seemingly figured out how to slow Morris down and forced Ira’s first punt of the night with just six minutes remaining in the game, Ramirez fumbled on the potential go-ahead possession at the Garden City 18. Ira running back Jared Cotton scored just three plays later with under five minutes remaining shutting the door on the hopeful Bearkats.
Garden City finished the season at 10-2, with its only losses coming to Ira in the 2013 season. The Bearkats were booted out of the first round of the playoffs one year ago and finished 3-8 on the year.
“It was a big turnaround for us from last year,” Odom said. “A lot of the credit goes to those seniors. They’re the ones that put in the time and effort and got us to where we were. There’s goo many of them to name but they’re the ones. The coaching staff did a great job for us too and it all came together and we turned it around.”
While Goodwin will spend the upcoming week preparing for the winner of today’s Water Valley and Crowell game, Odom hopes to begin building for next season after the loss of nine seniors this year.
“They’re going to be hard to replace,” Odom said. “In a lot of ways they’re irreplaceable. But it is what it is. We’ll have three returning starters coming back next season and they’re going to have to pick up the load and take the leadership and keep this thing rolling for the next couple of years because I think we’ve started something this year and it’s going to hopefully keep going for a while.”
Ira 40
Garden City 38
Ira 8 24 0 8 — 40
Garden City 6 18 0 14 — 38
FIRST QUARTER
IRA — Logan Morris 6 run (Austin Cullifer kick), 7:28 remaining.
GARDEN CITY — Ismael Ramirez 46 run (kick failed), 7:15.
SECOND QUARTER
IRA — Morris 2 run (Cullifer kick), 8:57.
GARDEN CITY — Juan Bustos 45 run (kick failed), 8:41.
IRA — Morris 4 run (Cullifer kick), 5:34.
GARDEN CITY — Stetson Hilger 9 pass from Austin Odom (kick failed), 3:36.
IRA — Morris 22 run (Cullifer kick), 2:21.
GARDEN CITY — Shawn Walker 5 run (kick failed), 0:55.
FOURTH QUARTER
GARDEN CITY — Ramirez 9 run (kick failed), 9:55.
IRA — Jared Cotton 9 run (Cullifer kick), 4:51.
GARDEN CITY — Walker 12 run (Bustos kick), 0:41.
Ira G.C.
First downs 14 11
Rushes-Yards 49-391 29-270
Passing 5 103
Comp-Att-Int 1-3-0 6-13-0
Punts 1-40.0 1-61.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 5-55 9-60
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Ira — Morris 36-338. Garden City — Ramirez 14-120.
PASSING: Ira — Tyler Goodwin 1-2-5. Garden City — Odom 5-10-75.
RECEIVING: Ira — Morris 1-5. Garden City — Hilger 2-18.
